For The Red White And Blue
by Elenhin
Summary: Luke has been safe home from his time in the Marines and Vietnam for a few years now, but just because he is through with the war, does not mean the war is through with him.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help, and to Uncle Mouse for the help she gave me while having no time to help... ;)

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. There is a few people in this story I have to claim responsibility for, and should you want them, I never really is impossible.

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

_**Chapter 1: Every Story Has A Beginning**_

"Alright boys, time ta get yer lazy hides up an' outta them beds," Jesse gruffly exclaimed as he went into the boys bed rooms. He headed for the window and pulled the blinds letting the sunshine in. As far as he could tell the boys had been up and at it just a tad to long the day before. It was morning and both of them were still tucked in nice in their beds, well, Bo was half out of his. That boy moved so much when he slept that Jesse wondered if there was a bed big enough for him. His left hand was hanging over the floor and his right foot was out on the other side, with the cover half kicked off. Oh well, it presented an easy way to get him up as Jesse pulled the cover off him and tickled his foot until the young boy spun around in a fit of giggles.

Luke was on his belly with his arms under the pillow and the cover pulled up all the way, not any really easy targets but he usually woke up fast enough as soon as you shook his shoulder.

"Is it morning already?" Bo asked stifling a yawn as he sat up on the side of the mattress.

"It's been morning for long enough," Jesse grunted as he shook Luke's shoulder and watched as that boy turned around and blinked at him. "Didn't I tell ya boys not to stay out half the night?"

"We didn't," Luke mumbled sleepily as he sat up. "We's home sometime 'tween ten an' eleven."

"Well obviously ya should've have been home earlier than that," Jesse stated gruffly as he headed for the door.

"Uncle Jesse, there's a big hole in my sock," Bo stated from where he sat on the bed still, trying to dress and looking to where his toes were no longer fully inside the sock.

"Well if ya boys were up like ya should an' working on yer chores, we might make enough on this farm to get ya new ones," Jesse chided. "Now, two minutes, an' then I want to see the two of ya in the kitchen."

"Breakfast?" Bo shone up as he headed over to his sock drawer while Luke sat up and pulled on his jeans.

"An' once yer in the kitchen, I wanna see ya go right through it, outta that door, an' at them chores, then ya can come back into the kitchen an' there's gonna be breakfast," Jesse stated as he left the room, oh them boys, there was some things you always knew what would be coming.

"Hey! Bo, leave of them socks, they's mine!"

Like the indignant cry that came from the bedroom as soon as he had left the room. Jesse had a half suspicion how it came that it was always Bo and never Luke who needed more socks, Luke was just naturally more sneaky than Bo.

As soon as the coffee was on the stove the boys came shuffling past him to start on the chores. Hard working boys needed hearty meals so Jesse usually sent them out to take care of the chores, the time it took them to feed all the animals and muck out the stalls was what he needed to have the breakfast ready. Taking the basket from Luke and cracking the eggs from it into the frying pan as he sent the boys on the way to wash up before sitting down at the table.

"Now sit down an eat yer breakfast," he told them as they came back. "After grace Bo." He served them both and handed them their plates before standing behind his chair and folding his hands. Making sure that Bo didn't try to steal any tastes of the food and that Luke was indeed saying the grace. Bo never could resist the food, and Luke seemed to have grown apart from it in the Marines. One could be cured with a glance or a slap on the knuckles, one had to grow back with love and understanding.

"What do ya want us to do today?" Luke asked as he started on his eggs. "I didn't think that we'd start on the harvest just yet," he stifled a yawn knowing Jesse would not appreciate that at his table.

"Not just yet no, but I want ya to get that fence mended, an' that means going over every inch o' it an' make sure it is all in good order, is that understood?"

"Yeah, but why?" Bo asked, barely swallowing first. "We ain't using that fer nothing."

"Have we ever really used that pasture?" Luke frowned.

"We are gonna be using it," Jesse explained. "Mr. Pringles is taking his daughter so that they can go visit that girls grandma, they's gonna be gone fer two weeks, so I promised him I'd look after his two cows an' that goat he has while they's away. Told us we could keep the milk, so we are gonna let the cows grace in that there pasture." He grinned as he knew what they boys were thinking , and would be thinking.

"That is unless the two of ya would rather head over to his farm couple o' times a day to check on them an' milk them?"

"No," Luke shook his head. "We'll take care of the fence."

"Yes sir," Bo agreed.

"When yer done with the fence I want ya to take a look in the pasture, make sure there ain't nothing in there that them cows can get themselves hurt on." Jesse went on, he knew the best ways to motivate them, they were hard working boys alright. They were just young boys who would rather laze around in the shade or in a cool bar then to work and sweat in the hot sun, and who could blame them?

"One more thing," he stated as they were cleaning of their plates off the very last crumbs, were there even a need to wash them after they were done? Both boys looked up at him to see what he would say. "Tonight, I want ya both here before sunset, I've had to drag ya both outta them beds for a whole week now, an' I ain't minded to keep doing it just cause neither of ya show the sense to know when to hit the sack."

"Alright," Luke was the one who nodded, the more responsible one of the two boys. They got up from the table and put their plates in the sink so that Jesse could wash them. Then they were outside loading up the pickup with all things needed to mend a fence, arguing about exactly how much that was since neither wanted to take more than needed, but Luke didn't want to have to go back for more either.

Jesse was outside later in the afternoon tending to the goats as well as mending Maudine the Mule's old harness when the boys came back. They were grinning and laughing joking with each others as they unloaded everything and took it back into the barn.

"Hey, Uncle Jesse," Luke called out. "Mind if we head out now?"

"Well where are ya going?" Jesse called back. It wasn't as if he had to know, but he always wanted to know where they were. He had the instinct of a father many times over when it came to them boys.

"Well ya see Uncle Jesse," Luke rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger in a thoughtful manner while he grinned and his eyes sparkled. "We heard tell that they were two mighty pretty young filly's down by the lake. Bobby Joe came past an' told us he had seen them gracing…."

"An' now yer gonna go over there an' bother them poor girls," Jesse chuckled to himself. They were Duke boys al right, and they had a good eye for a pretty gal, and they went for what they saw.

"Nah, we's gonna make sure that they ain't bothered," Bo grinned. "It's our duty ain't it? Watching out fer them an' make sure they ain't bothered by some bum?"

"Well alright, ya head off," Jesse nodded. "But remember, if ya ain't here by sunset, yer gonna start the day tomorrow in the woodshed, that clear?"

"Crystal," Luke grinned as he headed for the General and walked around to let Bo take the drivers seat as he usually did.

"See ya later Uncle Jesse," Bo grinned as he slid in through the window of the race car. The General hadn't been in their possession for too long, but was already being looked upon as a member of the family.

There was just something about that car together with them boys, they fit so well together that Luke didn't even chide Daisy about stealing his car anymore. The yellow Road Runner had been Luke's first investment in cars, one he had meant to turn into a race car while the old pickup he and Bo had found was better for getting around the farm. Back then there had been something about Luke that often worried Jesse.

Bo was too reckless for his own good, Luke was too careless. The older of the two could be downright dangerous at times, to himself and to others. Especially with the way his anger could boil up at times. He had calmed down, had calmed down a lot and Jesse was grateful for it. He had been glad when Daisy took over the car because he had been actually worried while Luke kept it.

Back then Luke had been trying to prove something at every turn, prove what he could do, prove how good he was, and prove that he was tough enough. The way he had been tearing up the roads Jesse waited for the bad news just about every other time he went out. He wasn't speaking ill of his nephews, either one of them, but the lord knew they had their faults just like every other man. Bo never stopped to think before he did something, and trusted fully to Luke to get him out of every mess unscathed. Luke always did his best to get him out of there, but he was just too fiercely independent for Jesse to fully trust his actions.

The boy had done a lot of growing up in the Marines. He had learned how to control his anger, to cool his thinking and how to operate from more than his own point of view. These days whatever happened Jesse knew that Luke would take Bo into consideration before he did something rash. He knew that his nephew would think about what the consequences would be before he acted, and it allowed him to live through the days a lot easier.

Still, he hoped that they had heeded him, both boys had been skittering close to slacking lately. Harder to get up in the morning. There had been a time after Luke got back when all he had to do to get both boys up was to put the coffee on the stove. Luke would wake up as soon as the fragrance was in the air, and knew to get Bo up as well. Occasionally he would be still in bed when Jesse entered the bedroom, but that was rare occasion. Lately though, Luke had been the same as Bo, never even stirring before Jesse was there to drag him bodily out of his bed.

Jesse hadn't kept curfew on the children since they graduated from high school but had decided that they were old enough to know when they had to go to bed in able to handle the chores. However, if it went on, the curfew was back on as he was getting fairly tired of it. They knew how the animals needed feeding each morning, and while Bo was just a heavy sleeper who had never been a morning person, it was hinting about bad habit forming with Luke.

The boys came in for supper though, both looking dangerously smug and had obviously had themselves a very good time judging by the cheerful manner in which they acted. He grinned to himself, there was nothing that could defeat that good old Duke gene, they sure had an eye for pretty girls and knew how to have themselves a good time.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry..._


	2. Delivering Hay

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. There is a few people in this story I have to claim responsibility for, and should you want them, I never really is impossible.

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

_**Chapter 2: Delivering Hay**_

Jesse frowned as he watched the coffee pot boil up on the stove, he turned down the burner to allow it to keep warm. He had been sure that it would get the boys up. Last night they had been to bed even before Jesse, he had knocked on their door even as he headed for the kitchen and yet there was still no sight of them.

He went back to their door and pushed it open, sure enough both were still asleep and as usual he found himself pulling the blinds and letting the sunshine in. Not exactly in the mood for being gently he just pulled the cover of Luke with a tug and watched as he blinked.

"Up, dressed, one minute," Jesse stated gruffly before he went back to the kitchen. Them boys were getting tardier, and he was not having that.

At least they were up and dressed in a reasonable time, thought their food had been waiting for them long enough to cool down a bit before they returned and washed up. Maybe a cold breakfast would teach them, but then again Bo ate so fast Jesse doubted that he noticed, and Luke wasn't always bothered if the food was hot or cold.

"Now, when the two of ya are through eating, I want ya to hook up that ol' wagon to the tractor, an' then stack it up with as many hay bales as it'll hold." Jesse instructed them.

"Any particular reason?" Luke asked as he spooned in the last of his grits in his mouth.

"Well, cause I tell ya to should be enough reason," Jesse stated. "An' besides that, we are gonna drive it down over to Mr. Peterson where the two of ya are gonna unload it an' stack it up nice an' tidy in his barn. He's running short an' we's got to spare so I told him he could get some bales from me."

"Sounds good enough to me," Luke shrugged. He scraped of the last of his plate before putting it in the sink and walking out the door. Bo grabbed himself an extra helping of bacon before following him outside.

As usual Jesse cleaned up inside, the boys were better of loading up the hay and he was better cleaning up, and they didn't need to lose another plate either. Sometimes he wasn't sure how many they had started with, but it was more than the seven they had left, that much was for sure. The most spectacular broken plate was the one that Bo had been drying and clipped Luke over the head with as the boy turned around to put it in the cabinet. Had clipped him good in the temple, and Luke had turned around throwing his fist at Bo who held up the plate as a shield. Of course it broke under the fist, Luke could pack a mean punch when he wanted to, even before he tried out boxing.

No, it was better to leave them to the work they were doing, try as they might they could not break a bale of hay.

Sure sounded like if they were trying though, Jesse decided as he heard a loud holler from outside. He went over to the backdoor and headed out on the back porch to see what they were up to. Luke was up on top off the load, shouting something at Bo who was on the ground, and there was a few bales spread out on the ground. They usually didn't get that fired up for a chore though, not that short of tempers that early in the day. For all his years Jesse never really felt that old, but them kids sometimes made him feel as if he was a mile away from them. He never really could understand what set them off at times.

Well, at least they seemed to sort it out by themselves. They picked up the bales that had fallen to the ground and got them back up on the load, then as they finished Bo came running over to him.

"Uncle Jesse, we's all loaded up." Bo panted a bit from the exertion.

"Good," Jesse nodded. "What was that fuss about earlier?"

"I dropped a bale afore Luke had hold, an' it tore down a few more, an' so he got snapping at me." Bo threw a glance in Luke's direction and frowned. "He's been snapping at me more an' more lately, have I done something wrong?"

"I don't reckon so Bo, but ya know how it is with Luke, he gets that way at times. Most likely it's something that's been bothering him, he'll get past it once he sorts it out."

"Okay," Bo nodded. "Anyway, we's ready to take it over, can I ride on the top?"

"Of course ya can, ain't no room fer ya on the tractor anyways," Jesse grinned as Bo whopped and climbed up to sit on the hay bales next to Luke. When they were younger there was plenty of times when they were hauling hay, and Jesse would take a longer road just because the children enjoyed it so much.

Still, there were times when they scared the life out of you, like when he realized Bo and Luke were both hanging over the side. Bo had as usual forgotten where he was and leaned over to far to look at something, Luke grabbed him but it was all he could do to hold on himself.

Then there was the time when he loaded up Bo and Luke at the farm, but when he turned around one time to check if they were okay, he nearly fell off as suddenly the Davenport boy was up there with them. Those boys sure knew how to turn a man's hair gray.

Pulling up at the Petersons farm he stopped the tractor in front of the barn.

"Alright, you boys get them bales in there, an' stack them nice, I'm gonna go in an' let him know we have it here," he instructed the boys.

"Alright Uncle Jesse, we'll be done in no time," Luke promised.

"Just make sure ya do the job proper," Jesse stated as he walked up the porch and knocked on the door.

He and Mr. Peterson were old friends, so the two of them stepped out on the porch to watch the boys unload the hay.

"Those are two fine boys ya have there Jesse," Mr. Peterson mused.

"They sure are," Jesse nodded. "I don't know what I would've done if I didn't have them….." He didn't mean with the farm, and Mr. Peterson knew it. Without his three kids Jesse would most likely have been an old moonshiner who never knew to give up his trade, there would have been nothing to the farm but an old man who spent all his time in a still shack.

The children had given something to his life that nothing else ever could. Genuine affection and love, together with total devotion and more trouble than a man could ask for.

"It's a pleasure looking at yer younglings' an' know that ya helped make them into what they are," Mr. Peterson sighed.

Jesse chuckled to himself. "Them two boys can get themselves in so much trouble before breakfast that I don't know how I will ever live through the day, but with out them, I don't see how it would be worth it," he mused to himself.

Again it was Bo who came running over. "Uncle Jesse, we's got it all stacked up nice and tidy like ya told us. Can we go an' get a beer now?"

"Ya swear it's all tidy?" Jesse asked just to be sure.

"Sure is, Luke made me restack the top ones three times," Bo stated.

"Sounds fair to me then," Mr. Peterson pulled out a wrinkled bill from his pocket and pressed it into Bo's hand. "You an' yer cousin have yerself a beer on me."

"Thank you, Mr. Peterson," Bo beamed happily. "That's mighty kind of ya, sir."

"Get yer cousin an' load yerself up in the wagon," Jesse told him. "We'll pass the Boar's Nest on the way home anyway, might as well stop by."

"Yer spoiling them kids of mine," he gently chided his friend as Bo took of running towards the barn.

"Might be, but it wasn't cause of the hay I told them to get a beer," Mr. Peterson chuckled to himself. Let the boys think it was, but it was really for the joy they gave to their uncle.

"I'll see ya later," Jesse nodded as he watched the two boys climb into the wagon. Climbing up on the old tractor he took off for the Boar's Nest, it was a little early for lunch, but the food there wasn't as bad as some said and they might as well. Let the boys wet their whistles an' then they could all treat themselves to a lunch and he wouldn't have to start cooking it when he got back home, but could wander off and go fishing for their supper instead. If he could catch themselves some trout for a stew it wouldn't be of no consequences if they ate at the local bar.

Parking the tractor off to the side where it would not be in anyone's way he saw the boys jump down to the ground as soon as he had stopped, but there was no use scolding them, they'd do it anyway.

"Alright you two, get in there," he waved a hand towards the door and followed them inside.

"Daisy, three beer," Bo called as headed for the bar, leaving Luke and Jesse to find themselves a table. It saved Daisy the trouble of having to take the beer to their table, and all three of them quickly drained their mugs to wash down the dust from the hay and the road.

"Daisy, gal, how about getting us something fer lunch?" Jesse asked the next time she past by their table.

"Sure thing Uncle Jesse, I'll get ya three of the 'today's special' in a minute.

With Boss Hogg running the place nothing was to plentiful, the beer was watered down, and while you couldn't water down a steak, you could cut it down to size before you served it. Boss Hogg sure knew how to make himself the biggest profit, Jesse mused as Daisy brought them their food. Fairly small steaks, with mashed potato, bread and corn. There plates were filled, but it was the cheap stuff that filled it up the most. It wasn't too bad though, Jerry was a fair cook the same as a fair bartender and an improvised bouncer.

Even while he was eating, Bo started to look around at all the ladies in the bar while Luke for once focused more on his plate than on the girls for once.

As they enjoyed the last of the beer they had ordered with the meal Jesse stole a glance at his watch.

"Alright boys, finish yer beer. I's gotta head home an' start fishing for supper." He stated as he put the watch back in his pocket.

"Fishing for supper?" Bo frowned confused.

"Means we're gonna be having fish," Luke translated.

"Oh, sounds good to me, mind if we tag along?" Bo wanted to know.

"Not as long as ya don't chatter so much ya scare them all away," Jesse smiled. "Do that, an' I'm gagging ya."

"Don't worry Uncle Jesse, I'll be all nice an' quiet, just like Luke, he ain't said two words all day," Bo grinned.

"Oh, be quiet," Luke grunted.

"That's three words Bo," Jesse grinned. "An' that's enough, come on now boys," he went over to the counter to pay for their meal, and to tip Daisy. An uncle had certain obligations after all.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…_


	3. What’s With That Boy This Time?

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

**_Chapter 3: What's With That Boy This Time? _**

Once they were back at the farm Bo jumped out and ran to the barn to get their fishing poles while Jesse backed in the wagon and Luke helped him to unhook it before they parked the tractor.

"You coming along fishing to?" Jesse asked thinking that his oldest was even more quiet than usual. He looked a bit gloomy and didn't seem to want to get too activated. While always the most quiet of the three cousins he usually wasn't this quiet.

"Don't think so, if it's all the same to ya, I reckon I'm gonna find a spot of shade," Luke told him quietly.

"Ya don't look ya best? Feeling okay?" Jesse asked wondering if he should be worried or not about him.

"I'm fine, probably just something in that stuff Boss calls food," Luke excused himself. "All I need is some peace an' quiet an' a nap."

Jesse nodded slowly, he didn't look to bad, just a bit tired. "Alright Luke, I'm bringing Bo so yer gonna have all the peace an' quiet ya want, an' we're gonna keep our ears on the CB, so just holler if ya want anything."

"Ya worry too much," Luke gave a small smile.

"With the two of ya, hard not to worry," Jesse mused. "Well, lets get ya comfortable then," he stepped into the house and filled up a pitcher with cold water, dropping in several ice cubes before grabbing a glass, if Luke felt the effects of the lunch, the last thing he needed was to get dehydrated as well. He also grabbed a blanket so he wouldn't be directly on the ground, and a pillow to make him more comfortable.

"Uncle Jesse, I ain't five no' more," Luke chided as Jesse spread the blanket out on the ground.

"Maybe not, but yer still my little boy," Jesse ruffled his hair as he sank down on the blanket. "It's a hot day today, so I want ya to make sure ya drink okay, understood?"

"I will Uncle Jesse, now scoot before Bo drives off without ya," Luke smiled at his uncle as he pulled of his boots. Bo was already in the pickup waiting. Luke stretched out and poured himself a glass of water while Jesse got into the pickup as well, he had a feeling that if he nodded off he wouldn't wake up to drink, and if Jesse got back and found the pitcher untouched he would not be happy.

The old man could mother you something fierce. If it was left to Luke, all he needed was some grass to stretch out on, trust Jesse to think of everything else. He smiled to himself as he drained the water and then stood the glass to the side, laid his head to the pillow, folded his hands on his stomach and fell asleep.

Since Daisy wasn't working the nightshift that day she came home in the afternoon to find one cousin asleep on the lawn, and the other one as well as the uncle no where to be found.

She considered waking Luke up and ask him where the others was, but her older cousin was sleeping so soundly it seemed a shame to wake him. Instead she retrieved her knitting basket since she had nothing else to do, and settled down beside him on the same blanket to enjoy the silent company of her sleeping cousin.

When Jesse pulled up with Bo and string of fish he smiled to himself.

"Ya know something Bo, that's the kind of sights stay with ya fer years," he mused as he watched his children. He had no idea what Daisy was knitting, but he suspected it was a pair of socks. She was measuring it over Luke's foot so there wasn't much else that she could be making.

"How long he's been asleep like that?" Jesse asked as he headed over to them.

"He was asleep when I got home," Daisy shrugged. "So I don't really know."

"What are ya knitting?" Bo wanted to know, he couldn't tell from looking at it.

"I figured I'd make Luke a pair of nice warm socks," she grinned as she help up the result, knitted in a dark blue.

"I could use a new pair, there's holes in mine," Bo stated thoughtfully.

"I know Sugar, but he was the one was home, I couldn't measure you," Daisy patted him on the shoulder. "Tell ya what, when I'm done with his, I'll make ya a pair to."

"Until then, I think it is just about time to wake that boy up, don't know how long he should be sleeping in the middle of the day."

"I'll wake him up," Bo promised.

"Gently Bo, gently," Jesse stated before heading inside to clean out the fish.

Bo grinned, of course he would be gentle, he could be very gently when he wanted to. Easing himself down beside him he did what he used to do when they were both much younger. Stretching out beside him, draping one arm over Luke's chest and put his face to his ears.

"Luke, wake up Luke," Bo whispered, rubbing his hand against his shoulder.

Luke grunted something and turned over to his side, coming to press against Bo and nearly crushing him or so Bo thought it felt like.

"Come on Luke, wake up cousin," he shook his shoulder again and Luke opened his eyes.

"Go away Bo, let me sleep," he mumbled before closing his eyes again.

"Can't do that cousin, Uncle Jesse said ya should get up. Come on now," He changed tactic and snuck in his arm behind his shoulders, pulling him up to sitting. Muttering to himself Luke pushed to his feet, picking up his boots and walking inside the house with them in his hands.

"Supper won't be to long now, Luke," Jesse told him as he came into the kitchen. "Feel more rested?"

"Not really," Luke stifled a yawn. "I still say Boss is serving spoilt food, I feel kinda rugged."

"Ya still don't look yer best," Jesse nodded slowly. "I'm gonna make ya an omelet, easier on the stomach."

"Thanks Uncle Jesse," Luke gave him a grateful nod.

"In the meantime, why don't ya go take a nice cool shower?" Jesse suggested as he took out a bowl, he would start on a good omelet as soon as the fish was in the stew. He had some ham he could add to it, making it more filling.

"Don't sound like a half bad idea," Luke shuffled off into the bathroom, dropping his boots on the floor and adding the clothes he wore to the pile while he turned on the shower, reaching in a hand he tested the temperature and stepped in when he found it pleasing enough. The bathroom didn't have a lock, but whenever the door was closed fully instead of slightly ajar everyone knew someone was in there. Besides that, he and Bo had never really bothered if the other was in there or not. Jesse might step in with towels for them, and on occasion Daisy would to. Truth to be told Luke wasn't as modest as he had once been, living in a barrack with other soldier made extreme modesty too impractical. Besides that, Daisy was his cousin, and even if she should happen to see him butt naked, that was still all she would come to see, her cousin.

He shook his head and raised his face to let the water wash over him as he realized how he had gotten lost in his thoughts, and that some strange thoughts to. His mind just seemed to want to drift off.

He had no idea of how bad it drifted before there was a knock on the door. "Luke, supper will be ready in just five minutes, are ya done in there?" Jesse called softly and Luke shook his head again. How long had he been in there?

Getting a grip of himself he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and tripping on his boots as he made his way to the bedroom for a clean change. He dried off as fast as he could and came to the table with slightly damp hair.

Jesse didn't say anything, but it wasn't like his oldest. He was starting to wonder if the boy was coming down with something. He hadn't heard of any bug going around, but then again, you didn't always know, and there wasn't always one either. While the boys were normally very healthy they too took sick at times, and Luke had a very annoying habit of never letting on how he was feeling before it knocked him out. The boy always decided in his mind that it wasn't worse than that he could still work, then before ya knew it the boy was flat on his back and you had no idea what hit him. Then he preferred how Bo came searching for sympathy as the cold struck. Or the way Daisy declared they were doing their own laundry until she was feeling better.

The fact that Luke looked half asleep and didn't share their supper didn't really escape the notice of the other children either.

"Luke, if ya want to rest some, I can take care of the chores," Bo offered.

"Nah, it's fine Bo, I can handle my share," Luke dropped his fork to his plate since he wasn't quite able to finish it.

"Luke, why don't ya take Bo here up on that offer?" Jesse suggested. "Ya look like ya could do with a bit of rest.

"I'm fine Uncle Jesse, perfectly fine," Luke insisted. "In fact, I'm gonna go an' get started on them chores right now." He got up from the table and headed out to the barn while Bo shrugged and rose to his feet to follow him.

"Don't fret about Luke," Daisy soothed him. "I'm sure he's fine, just having an off day or something." She smiled softly to herself putting a hand on her uncle's shoulder. "Ya know how he is, whenever there is something he gets his nose outta' joint an' won't tell anything, just going snapping at everyone."

"I know girl, I know," Jesse patted her hand with his own. "I've raised him since he was five, I know how he gets at times, but even when something's eating at him, he don't lie around sleeping all day, seems more like he caught the first of some bug or something to me. Think I'm gonna keep them boys home tomorrow."

"Ya do whatever ya feel ya have to do," Daisy agreed as she took the plates from the table over to the sink.

"Ya sure got that right girl," Jesse grinned smugly to himself. "I always have, an' I always will."

The two boys finished the chores alright, and when they came back inside they settled down for a game of checkers. It was a pretty common evening activity for them and Jesse relaxed himself taking up the newspaper while Daisy continued to knit.

She looked to be pretty much done with the first sock when Luke stretched, yawning. "How about wrapping this game up, cousin?"

"I aim to win this," Bo stated as he studied the board.

"An' I aim to hit the sack, so how about we wrap it up?" Luke insisted.

"Alright," Bo moved his marker and Luke quickly, gathered up all of his pieces.

"Ya said that just so that I'd make a move without thinking so ya could win," Bo complained.

"No, I said that so we could wrap up the game an' I could go to bed." Luke yawned again before standing. "Goodnight Uncle Jesse, night Daisy, Bo." He shuffled off into the bedroom and Jesse looked at the other two kids thoughtfully.

"Bo, tomorrow I think I'm minded to let that boy sleep in, maybe if I don't run him outta bed he can get the sleep he needs." It was not like Luke to sleep that much in the daytime, and it had Jesse worried.

"Alright, get me up an' I'll take care of the morning chores," Bo agreed.

Jesse did so, he got Bo up a bit earlier and allowed Luke to sleep, but when the time was near ten in the morning and his oldest was still sleeping he went to wake him up.

"Luke," he stated softly as he shook the boy woke up. "I don't believe yer really well here."

"Sorry Uncle Jesse, didn't mean to oversleep." Luke slipped his feet down on the floor before standing up.

"Well, I let ya, but Luke, anytime ya go to bed before ten, an' still sleep to ten in the morning, then I know ya ain't well son."

"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse, but I'm fine," Luke hurried to say. "Look, that food at the Boar's Nest really didn't sit well with me, that's all there is to it."

"Well, I'm keeping ya back here at home today," Jesse stated. "An' if ya ain't better by tomorrow, then I am gonna start worrying."

Luke nodded slowly. "Is there anything left I can have fer breakfast?" he asked as he picked up his clothes from the floor.

"I'll fix ya up something," Jesse promise as he headed out into the kitchen. Luke was quick out to join him, sitting down at the table and obediently folding his hands and saying a quiet grace before he started eating.

"So, what is it to do around here?" he asked thoughtfully as he started eating.

"Not very much," Jesse said thoughtfully, if Luke was coming down with something he didn't want him up on the roof. "Need to saw up an' chop down that ol' log for firewood." It wasn't the best chore, but it might keep him occupied.

"Where is Bo?" Luke wanted to know since he hadn't seen him around anywhere yet.

"Cooter borrowed him, don't know where they went off," Jesse explained.

"Did he leave the General?" Luke asked turning around and trying to get a glance out the window.

"Yeah, the General is still out front," Jesse confirmed.

"Okay, I should give him a tune up. I should've done it last week but put it off for some reason," Luke explained as he put his plate in the sink.

"Well, ya do that, an' then when yer done ya can get started on that there firewood if ya feel like it." It sounded like a good idea to Jesse. If Luke was too tired he wasn't sure if the firewood was a good idea, however the boy seemed to handle himself fine as worked with the car. He knew what he was doing so it should be safe.

Truth to be told Luke felt better than he had the day before. He wasn't sure if it was all the extra sleep, or what the reasons was, but he did feel better. He finished with the tuning, and then fixed the lose wires to the CB, another thing he seemed to have been putting off. It seemed he had neglected the General lately in more ways than one. It made him feel guilty, the General wasn't something he should be neglecting. The General was family, he was more than that.

Luke found himself crawling in under the car to give him a throughout check over. He cleaned off some dirt, checked the brake lines, he pulled of the fuel line and replaced it with a new one since it was showing signs of wear. The last thing he wanted was for the fuel line to split open on them.

When Jesse looked out the window he saw Luke busy washing the car. That was something that was slightly unusual. The only one who washed the cars regularly was Daisy. She would wash the Road Runner at least once a week or so it seemed. The boys might on special occasions, but mostly they just ran it through the Hazzard car wash. Daisy might offer to wash the General if she wanted something from them, and they boys agreed quite often, though he didn't really know why. Sometimes he thought it was to make sure she didn't take the help for granted.

Yet Luke was washing the orange car with more care than Daisy used, before he started waxing it. Something was up with the boy, that much was for sure.

**TBC **

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry _


	4. Probably Nothing…

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. There is a few people in this story I have to claim responsibility for, and should you want them, I never really is impossible.

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

**_Chapter 4: Probably Nothing….. _**

"Hello there Amos," Jesse greeted as he saw his old friend in the store.

"Hello Jesse, how is everything?" the town's doctor smiled back at him.

"Good, good, I think, though, I figured ta ask ya if there was some bug going around or something?" Jesse was mighty glad he had run into the old doctor.

"Nothing that's really going around no," Amos replied. "Have ya heard of anything?"

"Not really," Jesse admitted. "Luke's just been acting like he might be coming down with something."

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Doc Appleby was a country doctor of the old school, the Duke family was as much friends as patients and he had patched up the Duke boys more times than he could remember. He had seen them through flu and measles, road rash, broken bones, and tvarious experiments gone bad, whatever the boys had been up to he had been the one who patched them up afterwards. He had developed more of a bond with them boys than he had with some other patients. It also meant he worried more about them. If Jesse was worried about one of them, then he would be worried as well.

"He just ain't acting himself like, he sleeps more than he's ever done before. Seems tired most of the time, an' he ain't really eating proper. Not so that it's obvious, but fer some reason I get more leftovers than I ever have before, an' both Bo an' Daisy are eating properly. His moods different to, snaps more, an' then he' seems to just tune out….."

"It sure don't sound like Luke, do ya want me to take a look at him?" Amos mused.

"I've suggested it to him, but all he does is insisting that he's fine an' that there ain't no' need," Jesse sighed.

Amos nodded slowly, thinking about it. "Give it a few days, if there is no improvement, an' he don't figure to come see me, then I reckon I could find some excuse to head out yer way."

"Well, yer always welcome fer supper," Jesse nodded.

"See, there is a good one right there," Amos smiled. "Shall we say in two days, an' then I can get an idea what yer talking about?"

"Sounds perfect, yer a good friend Amos, a real good friend." Jesse smiled at his friend. "Now them boys are waiting in the pickup, an' they ain't gonna be happy none of them if I keep them waiting for too long."

"I'll drop by then," Amos shook his hand, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of yerself Jesse."

"Uncle Jesse, can we have an ice cream?" Bo asked as soon as his uncle opened the door to the cab.

"Another day Bo, I don't want to keep the groceries out in the sun." Jesse closed the door and turned on the engine. "I ran into Amos, seems he's ready to take me up on all them dinner invitations I've been offering him."

"He coming today?" Bo wanted to know while Luke sat resting his head against the door frame.

"In two days," Jesse explained. "Don't worry, Daisy will be home at supper time then, so I won't need ya boys to help out cooking."

"Good," Luke mumbled. He and Bo were not really talented in the cooking department. Their limitation was cooking over fire. Luke always claimed he could cook over a fire fine, but if you wanted him to cook in a kitchen, a fire was what you would get.

That was why they were asked to perform the simpler duties. Jesse sent Bo out to pick some flowers that they could put on the table, while Luke were setting the table. He was currently seated at the end, folding napkins and placing them out with the utensils at each seat.

Moving to the cabinet he rose to get down the plates, grabbing up four and turning around to put them down on the table cloth. Realizing that he needed five not four, it was funny how that had suddenly slipped his mind. After all he had jut set five seats, but as he took the fifth plate he couldn't really say why.

"Luke," Jesse turned around when he realized his nephew was just standing there. Looking at him he saw how the boy was pale, he was just standing there with a plate in his hands and a far away look upon his face.

"Luke?" Jesse stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulders. Luke didn't answer but the plate started sliding out of his grip, falling to the floor and breaking, at the sound of it Luke's knees buckled and Jesse grabbed him up before he could fall. "Daisy, pull a chair out," he ordered.

Daisy hurried to pull out the chair closest to them and Jesse eased Luke down on it, grabbing his cap from his head and starting to fan him. "Get a glass of water," he told Daisy not really looking away from Luke.

Daisy hurried to fill a glass and Jesse took it holding it to Luke's lips. Sensing the water on his lips Luke swallowed down some before blinking and looking up at them.

"Luke, are ya okay?" Jesse asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, what happened?" he frowned.

"Ya dang well near dropped out on us, that's what happened." Jesse snapped. "Turned around an' ya were just standing there, white as a sheet, then ya dropped the plate before near dropping out yerself."

"Sorry about the plate," Luke looked at the mess on the floor. "Reckon I stood up to fast. I'll clean it up."

"No ya won't," Jesse helped him to his feet and put a hand on his back. "Yer gonna go in here, an' yer gonna sit down an' not do anything, an' when the doc comes here, the first thing he's gonna do is take a look at ya."

"But Uncle Jesse, I'm fine," Luke objected.

"I will believe that when Amos tells me that, until then, ya do as I say," Jesse told him sternly.

Luke sighed as he sank down, he was starting to suspect that Jesse had invited the fella over for more than one reason.

Bo returned with the flowers at the same time as the country doctor pulled up in his car, so the two of them came in through the door at the same time. Jesse was just cleaning up the last of the plate from the floor and putting it on the counter for the moment. It had mostly broken into larger pieces so it wasn't too hard.

"Had a little accident?" Amos asked as he came in.

"Ya might say that," Jesse glanced towards the other room. "Luke dropped a plate, an' the way he looked I thought for sure he was gonna faint on me."

"faint, how?" Amos wanted to know, all business in an instant.

"He's just standing there an' went all pale," Jesse told him. "Plate slipped right outta his hands so I made him go sit and wait on the couch."

"That was a mighty good idea Jesse, I'll take a look at him," Amos stated as he headed into that room, his worn black bag in his hand.

"Hello there Luke," He greeted the boy.

"Hello sir," Luke greeted, obviously not happy.

"Wanna tell me how yer feeling?" Amos wasn't bothered by his lack of enthusiasm in the least, from Luke, he didn't really expect anything else.

"I'm feeling perfectly fine," Luke stated firmly.

"No dizzy spells, no shortness of breath, headaches, or anything like that?" Amos went on.

"Nothing worth bothering about," Luke insisted as Amos took out his stethoscope.

"Take off yer shirt Luke, I want to get at yer chest an' yer back," Amos ordered and Luke complied grudgingly.

"That dang thing is cold," he complained trying to pull back from the touch.

"Well, if ya had co-operated with me from the start, I would have warmed it up," Amos grinned. "I'm gonna do this no matter what ya say, an' ya know that, but if yer acting childish, I ain't gonna make nothing any easier for ya."

"Alright doc, since it seems no one's gonna listen to me, go ahead an' do what ya want," Luke agreed with a pout.

"Thank you," the doctor moved the stethoscope a tiny bit. "Now take a few deep breaths," he paused to listen. "Okay, now cough."

Luke did as he was told, turned around so the doctor could listen to his back and repeated the same routine.

"Aw please doc, not that one?" Luke groaned as the doctor pulled out a slim wooden tongue depressor out of his bag. "They taste horrible…"

"Ya don't have to eat it Luke, but I want ya to open yer mouth." Amos picked up a small light that he shone in his mouth, checking the back of his throat. He gently held his eyelids open to shine the light in his eyes, looking up as Jesse came to stand in the doorway.

"Can ya tell anything yet doc?" he asked.

"Not very much Jesse," Amos shook his head. "My advice is we all sit down an' eat."

"I told ya I was fine," Luke interrupted and Amos held up a hand.

"Hold it Luke, there is no point in doing anything before we eat, but after we've eaten, yer coming with me to the clinic, an' I'm gonna take some blood samples, there is something going on, I just can't tell what..."

Jesse nodded and Luke sighed, seemed he had no choice.

**TBC  
**  
_Please review, the Cricket is hungry….. _


	5. Examination

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

****

**_Chapter 5: Examination_**

Luke was sitting on the examination table in just his underwear, glad for the fact that Jesse was the only one who had gone with him if nothing else. This whole deal of sitting on a table in your understhorts and dangling your feet was bad enough as it was. Worse with all of your family watching.

Amos had tested his reflexes, his blood pressure, and yet he was still thinking out new things to test. He had drawn as many as three blood samples that he would apparently test in different ways.

"Aright Luke, ya can get dressed now," Amos finally allowed and Luke hurried to grab his jeans before he changed his mind.

"Jesse, I can't really tell ya much before I get these blood samples analyzed, an' I'm gonna have to send them away to Atlanta for the best result, they have more advanced equipment there. It might take a few days, in the meantime I don't want Luke to do any too heavy work. Don't let him out on his own for any longer stretches of time either."

"Ain't that to be overdoing it a bit?" Luke asked.

"It might be, but I'd rather be safe than not being able to tell ya sorry," Amos stated. "Just keep an eye on him Jesse, use yer best judgment and he should be fine. I'll get back to ya as soon as I know something."

"Thanks Amos," Jesse nodded. "The dinner invitation is still open ya know."

"Appreciate it," Amos nodded. "Now get that boy home."

Jesse did just that, ignoring Luke's objections that he didn't need no coddling. As soon as they were home and he had assured the two other children, he sent Luke off to bed. Thinking that the boy probably needed the extra sleep. He couldn't understand exactly what could be wrong, because every other time Amos would look them over and know exactly what was up. It could be good, it could mean that there really was nothing wrong with his boy, but it could also be bad and mean something was very wrong. He hoped that it wasn't, but watching Luke closely everyday he didn't see how it could be right. He kept hoping all his oldest needed was some vitamins or something, but when Amos came back to their house a few days later, he was still expecting something pretty bad.

"Luke, I sent yer blood samples to Atlanta," Amos started slowly.

"I know that," Luke was slightly testy since he had been cooped up indoors most of the time.

"Well, after they found some abnormalities, they actually sent them on," Amos explained.

"To where?" Jesse wanted to know.

"Veterans hospital in Atlanta, but that was mainly since ya were in the Marines Luke. The thing is, they want you there for another series of tests."

"Why?" Luke demanded.

"To find out exactly what has caused it, and what the effect on your body is," Amos explained. "Luke, when you were over in Vietnam, were you ever exposed to any chemicals?"

"What kind of chemicals are ya talking about doc?" Jesse asked nervously, glad that Daisy and Bo wasn't in the house right then.

"Jesse, they used chemical warfare in Vietnam, and there are numerous cases of soldiers who were exposed to it," Amos stated softly.

"An' ya think that Luke is one of them?" Jesse felt ice cold all of a sudden, the chill of a grave, his nephew's grave.

"We can't tell for sure, but this far, it's what it hints at," Amos admitted. "Look, there is no need to panic yet, but, I want you to go to the Veterans Hospital in Atlanta Luke, tomorrow."

"What if I don't wanna go?" Luke pondered.

"Luke," Jesse turned around, gawking at him.

"They ain't gonna find nothing wrong, it's just a waste of time," Luke objected.

"Luke," Amos sighed. "Can ya recall anytime when ya could have been exposed?"

There just was some things that Luke could never do, outright lie in front of Jesse was one of them. It just wasn't possible. "We marched through a village, just south of it, all the crops just lay dead. We didn't know what had caused it, but there was always the talk ya know," he stated slowly.

"Do you recall the name?" Amos asked and Luke nodded. "When ya go there tomorrow, I want ya to give them that name. With some luck, that will let them know for sure."

"Is there anything else ya can tell us?" Jesse asked, willing to do anything.

"I'm sorry Jesse, but there isn't," Amos shook his head. "All the blood samples told us is that something is wrong in the blood, but I don't want to try an' make any guesses about it."

"I understand that," Jesse nodded. "Thank you Amos." He reached out for the hand of his old friend and held it.

Then Luke pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm going to bed," he stated before hurrying out of the kitchen. Jesse rose and made to go after him, but Amos halted him.

"Let him be for a moment Jesse, that ain't easy to take in," he suggested.

Jesse listened as the bedroom door closed. "Amos, is Luke gonna…. Are we gonna lose him? I mean, chemicals?" he finished.

"Jesse, I can't even make a guess, I just don't know," Amos sighed. "They wanted Luke to come in at about eleven tomorrow, so what ya do is ya take him there, an' they will probably want to keep him for a few days while they complete the tests. Best ya can do is simply to just pack him a few things an' go there."

"Yer not gonna be there are ya Amos?" Even thought it had happened before, Jesse trusted the old country doctor more. There had been the times when he had taken the boys straight to the hospital, and they had always done their jobs, but he just preferred when it was his friend who looked after them.

"No Jesse, this is above me," he shook his head. "I don't know enough to do him any good."

"I'll take him there," Jesse stated. "I don't mind telling ya though, I'm scared to death right now."

"I sure understand that," Amos nodded. "I'm worried myself. Jesse. I'm gonna leave now, maybe Luke will feel better once I'm gone. Please keep me posted Jesse, it won't be my case no more, but I want to know what they find out."

"Of course," Jesse smiled at him. "I reckon I should see to him now."

Amos patted him on the shoulder. "Try not to worry too much, I'm sure it's gonna be okay, that boy is strong, he'll be fine."

Jesse saw him to the door before he took a deep breath and headed for the bedroom. Luke was in there, stretched out on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"Luke, we need to talk son," Jesse sank down on the edge of the mattress, but his nephew didn't even answer him.

"Luke, I'm sorry, but we's gotta do what's best for ya," Jesse tried but there still was no answer. He reached out a callused hand and put it to his cheek only to find him pulling away, turning his head to the side.

"I don't know what's gong on here son, but we're gonna go there tomorrow, an' whatever's wrong, we's gonna fix it," Jesse tried to assure him.

"Uncle Jesse, please leave me alone," Luke said hoarsely.

"Luke, I know yer scared, but ya ain't alone in this," Jesse assured him. "We're a family, an' we're gonna go through this like one."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Luke stated angrily.

"Will ya let me stay in here with ya?" Jesse brushed the back of his hand against his cheek and this time Luke didn't pull away. Jesse sat there, letting Luke rest his head against him and ran his fingers through his hair not saying anything but respecting his nephews wish for silence.

When Bo and Daisy came home Luke had nodded off so Jesse headed out to explain everything to them, as little as it was he knew. That was really what was getting to Luke, he didn't know, so there was nothing for him to deal with. Luke needed something to fight, and he didn't take this initial stage very well. Neither did the two other children. Daisy threw herself around her uncle's neck sobbing while Bo stood frozen to the spot.

He had fully understood that Luke wasn't exactly well, and he had thought he was sick in some way. Yet in his mind he had been sure that doc Appleby would just write a prescription of some sort, Luke would take the medicine and be fine. He had never pictured that there might be more than that.

"Uncle Jesse, is Luke gonna be okay?" he asked tearfully.

Jesse reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Bo, it's Luke, he's a bit upset right now, an' that's perfectly understandable, but he's also the biggest fighter we have in this family…"

"Yeah," Bo gave a small smile. "Where is he now?"

"He's sleeping, please let him," Jesse looked between them. "I reckon that both of ya want to go along tomorrow?"

"Of course," Daisy burst out.

"Daisy, simmer down girl, now, can' ya pack Luke up a few things? Toothbrush, something to wear an' all that?" he asked her.

"Okay Uncle Jesse," she nodded.

"What do ya want me to do Uncle Jesse?" Bo asked, eager to do what he could.

"We need to make sure all chores are taken cared off," Jesse smiled at him. "Look, I don't want the two of ya to get too worked up here, we don't know nothing yet, might not be bad at all. So just take it easy, an' we're gonna get through this, okay?"

Both of them nodded, and he pulled them into a hug.

"That's my kids," Jesse smiled, kissing Daisy on the top of her forehead while ruffling Bo's hair and patting his cheek. "Bo, why don't you an' me go outside an' see if we can get some of that work done now?"

"Okay Uncle Jesse," the young boy nodded.

"I'll pack Luke a bag, an' then I'll make some lunch that we can all bring along," Daisy promised as she stepped back.

The two men went outside and she took out one of the bags from the hallway closet, the ones Luke and Bo always preferred to a regular suitcase. She didn't think they would let him use much clothes, but some spare changes of under shorts and socks. One of his pajamas, a soft blanket for if he was cold. She also included a couple of the car magazines that he and Bo kept lying around just about everywhere. Seeing the boys checker board in the living room she included that one as well, there wasn't much more she could pack for him so she started making the lunch to keep herself busy.

**TBC  
**  
_Please review, the Cricket is hungry….. _


	6. Leaving Kin

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. There is a few people in this story I have to claim responsibility for, and should you want them, I never really is impossible.

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

**_Chapter 6: Leaving Kin_**

The next morning Jesse woke up even earlier than usual, sneaking into the boys room and getting Bo up. It was one of the first times he could remember where Bo was wide awake as soon as he touched his shoulder. The young boy dressed quietly and went out to start on the chores while Jesse woke up Daisy. Together they got most of the quickly finished the chores. Jesse had called Cooter the night before, and if they weren't back in time, the mechanic had promised to head out to their farm and feed the livestock.

Not wanting to have to drive against the clock they had decided to start out early, so Jesse went and woke Luke up. His oldest was quiet, even for a boy who had never been that talkative. He sat down at the breakfast table without a word, something that made Bo very upset.

"Luke, do ya want to talk about it son?" Jesse asked softly as he put a coffee cup in front of him.

"No," Luke shook his head, then he looked up at his Uncle. "Uncle Jesse, ya can't seriously throw away a day's work just to drive to Atlanta for no reason."

"Luke," Jesse told him softly, sitting down. "Doc Appleby told us that he thinks ya should go there an' let them run them tests. If Amos says so, it ain't for no' reason. I've always trusted him before, an' I always will."

"But I don't believe it," Luke insisted. "It sounds ridiculous."

"Luke," Daisy burst out while Bo watched him quietly.

"Well Luke, if ya don't think there is gonna be nothing, then what's the harm in checking it out?" Jesse asked him, knowing there was really nothing he could say about that. "Now kids, grace afore the food's ice cold."

They all folded their hands and bowed their heads, Jesse would have added words of prayer for his oldest, but he knew Luke wouldn't take well to that, so it was something he added silently in his head, just like he was sure the other two kids was doing.

Normally Jesse would have insisted that the Yellow Roadrunner made the better vehicle for a trip with all four of them, since he absolutely detested going through the windows of the General. It was something he only did because of the love his nephews held for that car, and he too in a special way. Now he didn't even consider any other vehicle since it was the car Luke would feel the most comfortable in.

Jesse took the bag while Daisy carried the food basket with their lunch, and Luke tried to pretend that they were not doing anything more than heading to Atlanta for a shopping trip.

Bo was driving as usual and Luke simply made him self comfortable in the passenger seat. Daisy was leaning against her uncle in the backseat, unsure of what was going to happen, and quite terrified.

Arriving at the hospital Luke and Bo helped Jesse out of the car. Back in Hazzard people was used to that, but in the city of Atlanta people seemed confused enough when the two boys slid out of the windows, and then Bo lifted Daisy to the ground while Luke walked around the car and they both helped Jesse out.

Jesse took head as they walked in through the main entrance, glad that as soon as they found the reception they were asked to move to a waiting area. Bo had the bag, but they had left the food in the car. Seeing a clock on the wall as they sat down Jesse wondered if it had really been a good idea to come early. It had sure seemed like it, but Luke didn't need to be sitting around getting nervous for all of half an hour, and yet still, Bo and Daisy seemed more nervous than Luke did.

"Mr. Duke?" A man a few years past the middle age came up to them and asked.

"We're the Dukes," Jesse nodded as he stood up and shook the hand of the man who was wearing a white coat.

"I'm Dr. Travis, I'm here to run some tests on your nephew, Lucas Duke," the man told them in a gentle voice.

"I'm Jesse Duke," Jesse introduced himself. "The other kids are my nephew Bo, and my niece Daisy, an' this here is Luke. I reckon he'll be more co-operative if ya call him that rather than Lucas." The man seemed kind, and as far as doctors from big city hospitals went, Jesse took a liking to him.

"Hello Luke," Travis greeted him shaking his hand, before showing Bo and Daisy the same curtsy. "What we are going to do is to get you properly admitted, then we will be performing some tests. I think that you will be familiar with some of them, such as blood samples, and the others we will explain as we come to them."

He turned to the family as Luke nodded. "Until we are finished there really is nothing you can do here, we think we will be done for the day between five and six in the afternoon, my suggestion is that you go around the town, sitting in here and waiting will serve no good, and I assure you that we will take the best care of your nephew."

"Do it Uncle Jesse," Luke added. He honestly didn't want them there at every turn, it was going to be bad enough to put up with all the poking and the probing as it was.

"Are ya sure Luke?" Jesse asked putting a hand on his shoulder, if Luke wanted it, he would sit there and wait no matter how long.

"I'm sure, an' I y'all try to wait here, Bo's gonna be climbing on the walls after the first hour," Luke smiled softly. "Take them to the museum, maybe he'll finally learn something," he added the last part teasingly towards Bo who gave him a soft glare.

All of them followed Dr. Travis to a small office where they filled out some paperwork, he wanted to know Luke's behavior lately in every detail, and his family proved to be better at supplying that information then Luke himself was. Once that part was completed Jesse took the advice and ushered Bo and Daisy outside. The museum seemed like a good idea to him. It would keep their minds of what was going on.

Luke, was only to well aware, while it wasn't his favorite thing, needles had never bothered him to much and when they pricked him for blood samples he at least knew what they were doing. It was a process he had experienced many times before. Other things however, most of the other things went right over his head.

He could figure out why they wanted him to run a course on an electric band, the kind you put in your home so that you didn't have to go outside. They wanted to know how he reacted to the exercise, and it spared them having to run behind him as he went around the block. He hated to admit it, but it seemed he was out of shape. He got tired, sweet poured freely and he was panting more than he should.

Dr. Travis explained the next step to him while he was sitting in a chair trying to catch his breath again.

He hoped his family was enjoying their time more than he was enjoying his, and he hoped they got to sit down somewhere and eat, because no one seemed minded to give him any food. While he was aware he had eaten less lately, he could have done with a sandwich.

"Just one more test now, and then we are going to get you settled in a room for now," Dr. Travis told him softly as he led him down another set of corridors.

When Luke was allowed to re-trace that route and was shown to the part of the hospital that was the rooms for the patients he was actually happy to see the bed in the room. While he normally would have gone for the chair, in pure defiance to being made a patient he felt rather exhausted and decided he would much rather lie down than to sit down. His clothes had been taken from him at the first step, and instead he had been dressed in a hospital gown of the kind that opened up indecently in the back, a robe and a pair of slippers. There was a metal locker in the room and he hoped that was where his clothes had wound up.

A blanket lay folded at the foot of the bed and rather than crawling in under the cover he opted for using it. Stepping out of the slippers he stretched out on the bed while keeping the robe on, and spreading the blanket out over him.

He was simply relaxing and looked up when the door opened, seeing his family he found himself smiling at them. No matter how displeased he was with his current situation they were his family and seeing them was good.

"Hey, did y'all have a good time?" he asked as he sat up on the bed.

"Yeah, ya wouldn't believe the stuff they have in that museum, some of it is really cool," Bo declared.

"How are ya doing son?" Jesse asked as he sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"If there is one single part o' me that they didn't poke or prod, it weren't for lack of trying," Luke stated.

"Do they know anything yet?" Daisy wanted to know, there was only one chair in the room, but with Luke sitting up on the edge of the bed, she and Bo sat down beside him.

"Only that they are gonna be doing a lot more of the same tomorrow," Luke sighed. "Did y'all get to eat?"

"Yeah, in the park," Bo informed him.

"Did ya leave anything for me?" Luke turned to Daisy since he assumed she would be the one who had been in charge of the basket. "That's the one thing they didn't do, didn't get nothing to eat."

"Daisy, why don't ya run down to the car an' get the basket?" Jesse suggested.

"I'll be right back sugar," Daisy kissed him on the cheek before she headed out the door.

"How do ya feel about it now son?" Jesse asked after she had left, Bo knew Luke well enough to read his moods, and to recognize them, but there were times when Daisy disagreed, or didn't understand and she could raise her voice to him.

"I can't say I'm happy about it," Luke admitted. "But I guess I've accepted it."

"That's good," Jesse smiled at him. "Ya know I'd never try make ya do anything if it wasn't fer yer own best."

"I know that Uncle Jesse," Luke nodded. "You've always been a good father to all of us, I just can't seem to let myself be treated as some guinea pig, an' not mind it."

"I know Luke, ya never were one to pushed into doing something that ya' didn't want to be, an' it was all a man could do to keep ya from figuring out what was going on when we tried."

Luke smiled as he thought about the many times he had figured out things that his Uncle had thought was safe.

"Once they's done all those tests, are they gonna let ya come back home then?" Bo wanted to know, he was still pretty worried about the whole thing.

"Yeah, I reckon so, they probably just want to figure out what medicine tastes the worst first," Luke put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.

Then Daisy returned with the basket and laid out the selection in front of Luke who picked a chicken sandwich.

As Luke ate and Jesse filled a glass with lemonade for him Daisy ventured over to the locker and looked inside. Luke's clothes were there alright and on the bottom together with his boots was the bag they had brought him.

"Honey, I'm gonna put the car magazines on the table beside the bed for ya," she declared as she opened the bag. "I have the checker board in here as well."

"Don't have to bother Daisy, I can find it where it is if I want it," Luke assured her, but as usual Daisy didn't really pay any heed to him. She came over and put the magazines on the small table beside the bed.

"Do ya want to play a game of checkers?" Bo asked, thinking he could occupy his cousin for a few minutes.

"Not really Bo," Luke declined the offer. Instead he kept up some idle chatter with his cousin and looked up when he heard a clicking noise, looking up he realized that Daisy had brought along her knitting.

Knitting was something their aunt had done, every winter there was home knitted sweaters for the children to wear, and she would let them pick out the colour for them themselves.

He remembered the time he had gotten curious about it, and asked her if he could have some feet of yarn. Curious to what the serious looking boy was up to, Martha had cut off about ten feet for him that he ran off with. Half an hour later when she went to check on him he was in the barn and tried to repeat what she did, with two four inch nails and the yarn twined around it.

Going to fetch her knitting needles she had gone back to the barn and sat down to show him exactly what it was she was doing. Back home in the shoebox he kept in his closet was a few inches of crudely knitted blue yarn. Still on one of the nails he had used because it didn't want to slide off. At first Luke hadn't bothered to keep it, but his aunt had, and then Luke had found it again later when he treasured it more.

Daisy didn't know about that, she thought she was the only one in the family who knew how to knit, and while Luke thought he was more than rusty, he was pretty sure he could still do what he had learned back then if he tried.

Squeezing Bo's shoulder again fondly he listened to his younger cousin, grateful for the family that had always been his.

**TBC  
**  
_Please review, the Cricket is hungry……_


	7. The Truth

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

_**Chapter 7: The Truth**_

After three days Luke had been released to go back home again, but Dr. Travis had cautioned them they would ask them to go back when they had the results from the tests. Luke couldn't be bothered to care, he was back in his own home, in his own bed, and sometimes later seemed like a time far away in the future.

Jesse counted off the days, keeping a close eye on his nephew still. Luke was still banned from the heavier work, but at the same he seemed to be trying to prove that there was nothing wrong with him. Jesse thought he ought to tell him not to do a lot of the things he was doing, but he just wanted to keep the boy in a good mood.

Then Dr. Travis called him one evening and asked them to come by the next day, wondering if they could make it there to ten in the morning.

Telling the news to the boys he could tell Luke was not happy, the boy had hoped there would be a call that said it was all a big mistake or something and that there was no need for them to even come back.

For him, having to go back was bad in itself.

Pretty much as soon as they stepped in through the doors Dr. Travis was there to meet them. Following him to his small office they all sat down in the offered seats as Dr. Travis cleared his throat.

"So, what's wrong?" Luke asked trying to appear calmer than he felt. "Did ya figure out anything at all?"

"We have the results from the tests, and they tell us all there is to know," Dr. Travis started slowly. "Luke, it appears you were indeed exposed to some chemical, or some residues of a chemical."

"What does that mean?" Luke demanded, wishing his cousins weren't there, he had tried to convince them that only he and Jesse should go, but suspecting he would want to keep things from them, Bo and Daisy had put their foots down, hard. Jesse had sided with the two of them, and so they had gone all four.

"Luke, are you aware how some chemical substances mutate, how they react differently with different substances?" Dr. Travis asked and Luke nodded.

"Of course I am, I'm perfectly aware of it," he stated, annoyed by all the walking around the subject the man was doing.

"Well, some of the chemicals used, transformed rather unpredictably when they were used. We can't tell exactly what chemical that it was originated by anymore, there are not enough traces to determine exactly what it was. All we know are the effects it's having."

"Ya say that as if it's happened before," Jesse frowned.

Dr. Travis nodded slowly. "There have been one and a half dozen reported cases of it so far, all over the country, not including Luke. How quickly it develops has varied, and the first few were too far gone before it was discovered. Since the first, a half dozen has been cured successfully."

"The rest died I take it?" Luke asked in a calm and cool voice.

"I'm sorry to say so, yes." Dr. Travis looked at him. "What has happened is that the chemical made it into your bloodstream, and ever since then, your blood has been a toxic that has been poisoning your body."

"Luke can't die," Bo squeaked, grabbing a hold of his cousin's arm.

"Can ya cure Luke?" Jesse asked, all his worst fears had suddenly been confirmed, but the most important thing was what could be done about it.

"We think so yes," he nodded. "See, the earlier we get it, the better chance of success, and since we also know more now, there is a good chance we can stop this before it progresses any further."

"I don't believe ya."

Jesse was surprised, it was not the reaction he had expected from Luke, Daisy was quiet, and Bo also looked at Luke with surprise.

"I ain't stupid, if that stuff is in my blood, there ain't no way yer getting it out," Luke stated. "Can't just replace it either, if it's what ya say it is, then there ain't really nothing ya can do about it."

"Luke, it might be hard to believe, and I know this must be a shock for you, but there is a treatment for it, do you know what Leukemia is?"

Luke didn't answer so Jesse nodded in his place.

"That disease is treated with chemotherapy, as well as bone marrow transplants. Five of the six successful cases were with chemotherapy, and the other with a bone marrow transplant." Dr. Travis looked at them all in turn as he explained. "The main problem with a bone marrow transplant is that it is very hard to find an exact match, in that case, seeing as he had a twin brother, it turned out well."

"So how are ya gonna treat Luke?" Jesse asked. "Yer gonna give him that there chemotherapy ya were talking about?"

"We are," Dr. Travis nodded. "We're hoping that we caught this early enough that it will be successful."

"What if it isn't?" Daisy breathed.

"Then I die," Luke shrugged. "Probably gonna happen either way."

"Luke!" Jesse snapped as Daisy gasped and Bo just stared at him. "Don't go talking like that son."

"I got some sort of poison in my blood," Luke stated grimly. "What else do ya think is gonna happen?"

"I tell ya what's gonna happen, we're gonna get ya that treatment," Jesse told him firmly. "An' if I hear ya talk like that again, I'm gonna take ya to the woodshed."

Dr. Travis cleared his throat. "Do you want me to explain the chemotherapy for you?"

"Yes, sir, I would very much like that," Jesse nodded.

"What it does, is it will kill the cells, thereby killing the cells that acts as the poison," Dr. Travis explained. "The drawback is it can't attack only bad cells."

"What does that mean exactly?" Jesse had put his hand on Luke's shoulder while Daisy looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"He will get sick from the treatment, and the cells that grow and maintain hair dies as well," Dr. Travis explained to them. "All in all it will look very bad, but after a few treatments, it will hopefully have killed the poison off."

"An' if I don't agree to it?" Luke wanted to know.

"Then, it will continue to poison your body until the damage is irreversible."

"How long do ya reckon that'll be?" Luke pressed.

"Six months to a year probably, if we can't cure it, that's probably how long it will take for it to have fatally damaged all your internal organs."

"No!" Bo near shouted, his eyes brimmed with fear. "We ain't gonna let that happen."

"Bo, it ain't something ya get to chose." Luke turned around and put both his hands on his younger cousin's shoulder. "It happens, an' ya accept it an' go on."

"How do ya think I could go on without ya?" Bo demanded. "How Luke? I need ya."

Jesse chose to ignore them for the moment. "When can ya start it?"

"Very soon, the sooner the better," Dr. Travis started. "It will be more than one session, and we will schedule them out so that he has time to recover from them. He will receive them here, but, he can go home after each one and recover from them at home. It will be difficult for you, there is no denying that, but I honestly believe we caught this in time to do something about it."

"I haven't agreed to nothing yet," Luke interrupted.

"I'm sorry Luke, but there really are no other options," Dr. Travis told him sadly.

"Sir, I think I need a few minutes alone with my nephew," Jesse told him. "Is there somewhere he an' I can go an' talk, an' then maybe ya could explain it better for the kids?"

"There is a door a few doors down the corridor to the right that has no name on it, there's some chairs in it since we use if for conversations like that, feel free to go in there, if you pull the curtain for the window, everyone will know it is being used," Dr. Travis told them. "Take as long as you need."

"Thank ya sir, come on Luke," Jesse pulled his oldest to his feet and led him out the door and down the hallway. Finding the right door he steered Luke inside and pulled the curtain, finding a light switch that lit up a floor lamp and spread a soft glow around the room.

Spotting a couch in the corner he led Luke there and sat him down, sitting down beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Luke, now tell me, why don't ya wanna do this?" he asked softly.

"Ain't the fact I don't, reason enough?" Luke demanded.

"No Luke, it ain't," Jesse shook his head.

"I know what chemotherapy does, I don't want that," Luke's voice was getting tight as he struggled to control his emotions.

"Luke, I understand from what he said it'll be hard, I don't blame ya fer being scared, but Luke, if we don't we're gonna lose ya." Jesse shook his head and put a rough calloused hand to his cheek.

"An' what'll that do to me? Make me into some damned freak!" Luke flared.

"No Luke," Jesse shook his head. "I swear Luke, sometimes I don't understand what's going on in that head of yer's. I ain't seen no one as understanding an' considerate when there is some illness or disability, so how come yer saying that?"

"This should be my choice," Luke insisted. "It's about me, an' I should be the one who decides. Do ya have any idea what that will really do? We can't do it, we don't have that kinda money, an' I wouldn't be able to do nothing, at least now I can still do my share of the work, what are ya gonna do come harvest, if I can't work, an' all of ya are to busy taking care o' me, then what?"

Luke clenched his jaws shut, he was still fighting not to break down.

"An' what if I lose ya Luke?" Jesse shook his head and blinked away tears. "We can manage the farm Luke, we'll manage the harvest, ya know that. If it was Bo, or Daisy, ya'd be the first one to say we would. If worst comes to worst, I'm sure Jeb Stuart would be happy to come down an' give us a hand, an' so would Coy an' Vance, ya know that."

"We can't afford something like that," Luke insisted.

"We can," Jesse insisted with just as much stubbornness. "We might not have much Luke, but we have enough, we can make enough, I ain't gonna stand by an' lose ya Luke. If this is what has to be done, we are gonna do it."

Luke wasn't able to hold his composure together anymore, burying his face in his hands he broke down crying. Jesse wrapped his arms around him and sat holding him the same way he would when the kids where younger.

Luke wasn't one to really seek out the comfort even then, but he leaned against his uncle.

When the tears stopped running and he wiped at his eyes with the back of his hands Jesse pulled him to his feet. "Come son, let's find a bathroom so ya can freshen up some." Leading the boy down the hall he they found a men's room where Luke washed his face in cold water, erasing the redness and the puffiness.

"Will ya agree to it now?" Jesse asked softly, and Luke paused.

"I don't want to," he said quietly.

"I know Luke, I wish ya didn't have to go through that either, but, Luke, we can't lose ya. We're all family, an' we love ya, there ain't nothing we wouldn't do for ya."

"I know," Luke nodded slowly. "I know that, an' it means a lot to me, but, Uncle Jesse, I can't stand the thought of knowing I'm gonna be that helpless."

Jesse chuckled to himself in spite of everything. "Luke, I ain't ever known ya to be helpless. Never, not even as a kid, ya just never were." He put an arm over his shoulders again. "Yer the fighter of the family, an' there was never any doubt, ya just gonna fight this like ya's done all else, an' it's gonna be fine, I promise ya Luke."

Luke gave a small nod and washed his face one last time before turning off the water.

"Are ya ready to go back now?" Jesse asked him softly.

"Can we go back to that other room?" Luke asked, shaking his head. "Can't face Bo, an' Daisy yet."

"Sure Luke, ya can take yer time." Jesse helped him back, understanding how hard it would be for him. He settled Luke back down on the couch again, sitting with him in silence.

"I can't face them," Luke suddenly stated. "They's gonna pity me, I hate that."

"Luke, they are upset too, they's feeling mighty bad fer ya, but they won't pity you." He pulled him to his feet again. "Come now son, lets go tell that doctor so we can start helping ya to get better. Once more he led his nephew through the corridors, this time back to the rest of their family, and to get started on getting him better.

**TBC**

_Please review the Cricket is hungry….._


	8. For the Red White and Blue

Author's Note: I wrote this story in large because I got tired of the way some people will look upon the soldiers of Vietnam. I don't approve of the war, I think it was wrong, but I don't think the soldiers who went there, to defend their country out of their own free will, or because they got drafted, deserves to be treated so badly. This story is kind of to point out that for some of them, the suffering from the war didn't' end just because they were able to return home.

Big Thanks to Hazzard Husker for all the help, and to Uncle Mouse for the help she gave me while having no time to help... ;)

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. There is a few people in this story I have to claim responsibility for, and should you want them, I never really is impossible.

* * *

**For The Red White And Blue, But Also For You**

_**Chapter 8: For the Red White and Blue**_

Uncle Jesse had always said that reflection over matters past was something best left to the old people, the young ones shouldn't waste valuable time they could spend living on brooding. Bo had always though it was a sound advice and had headed it, even more so than either one of his other cousins. He was a normally happy person and he didn't care if it made some people think less of his intelligence for it. He never spent much time thinking about the 'ifs' and 'whys.'

Yet even he found that sometimes he was in that mood that made him hide away in the hayloft where Luke normally brooded and he would slip into a mood near darker than that of his older cousin's.

That was now, Luke was down in the yard working on the pickup and for once he wasn't aware of Bo.

It was strange, Jesse always claimed that some matters had you grow up, even when the years passing didn't, he had always told them that Luke grew up when he lost his family, because in many ways that was when he stopped being a child, and Bo, he grew up during the last two years.

The last two years had given him a taste of what Luke had been battling in the Marines as he battled the aftermath. Even as time passed the treatments had done nothing for Luke at all, but turned him into a completely different person that Bo hardly felt he knew at all. Maybe it was the Lucas K, the one on the birth certificate, but it sure wasn't Luke, his cousin.

When time was running out and Luke was near as good as gone there was finally a glimmer of hope, but not a lot, just a way to buy another few months but as the source of the chemical had been discovered they were able to do as much while working on the cure. By then there was more reported cases as well. Bo still remembered the name, Acetylenproten-B, strange name but he remembered it.

That had been the worst time for Bo, or almost the worst one, because when there finally seemed to be real hope, Luke didn't want it.

The dark mooded young man who had always been the pillar Bo leaned on had given up. He wanted to simply give up and pass with the time, didn't even want to stay where he was in the hospital, he wanted to go home, and he got into a horrible shouting match with their uncle about it. Luke thought it all was an act of cruelness to make him wait for the inevitable, and he wanted it over with as quickly as possibly. Daisy ran from the room as she couldn't stand to watch it, neither the harsh words spoken, the pain they left behind, or the way Luke struggled when he spent more air than he could spare on forcing the words out and seemed to be dying from the argument.

Jesse wasn't one to be quieted though, and with a few words he had him crying in his arms instead, and had him give up and agree. Luke had given up, truly given up, but the family hadn't and they were fighting the battle for him, all Luke did was to let them decided for them, let the doctors try to treat him, but he barley spoke to them and he didn't seem to care about the outcome at all. He was certain what it would be, and that had been hardest on Bo off it all.

Never the less he was taken to Washington DC where they were more capable of dealing with it. The two months they bought him was enough, and while Luke never in any way seemed to care, he was going to make it.

That was when Bo got into an even more severe shouting match with him, because even after he was declared to be on the road of recovery, he still didn't care. He wasn't interested in going home, he didn't care that he was getting better, and Bo didn't believe he could ever hate his cousin, but he had gotten close then, he had gotten really close as he turned to Jesse for comfort and understanding, both of which Jesse had as much as he needed and more.

It had been a Duke that made his fool headed cousin care again, but not the Duke Bo had expected. It was the General.

When they left the farm in Georgia they had left Jeb Stuart Duke in charge of the farm while Cooter, and his two cousins helped out there as well. Cooter had also since Jeb Stuart insisted on the motorcycle taken the General to keep him at the garage. The Dukes needed more money to live on, but they would never accept it for a gift, so Cooter made them a deal to rent the General.

Then when the letters came, Cooter made up his mind on his own, using the winnings from a local race he took the orange stock car and drove it cross country to where his friends were. It was seeing the General that started to turn Luke around again, seeing Bo run out to it and take off for a drive to think and clear his mind made the older Duke boy realize how much he desired to go with him.

When Bo returned he had found a peace of mind he hadn't felt in a long time, and when he got back, he found something even better, Luke smiling and laughing, joking with Daisy and Cooter, Luke reaching out his arms to him, willingly, for a hug.

After that things just seemed to be a lot easier. Cooter moved in with them at the boarding house where they had been boarded and where the Dukes lived with the veterans hospital taking half the rent for two rooms, and where the Dukes worked for the other half, Daisy by helping the old widow out at meal times, and Jesse took Bo to make sure that a lot of small neglected repair work actually got repaired.

Luke's first trip outside was to the General who was parked out on the street, the second one to the boarding house one block away where they started to take him to eat. Bo had thought that as soon as he was signed out of the hospital they would just go into the General and go home, but it wasn't so at all. Luke voiced a request to stay in the big city, and Bo couldn't understand it at first, demanding to know why he wouldn't go home, but Jesse seemed to know and nodded silently, agreeing to stay for a week or two. Later, when Luke had gotten a few full days rest at the boarding house after being signed out, enjoying meals of fried chicken and all the pie he could eat, Bo began to understand, at least he understood when they all took the General for a real special trip…..

_An hour later, Bo finally understood what it was about as well. He had heard about it but never really thought about it. He knew about the wall risen after Vietnam, and he had heard talk about fifty thousand names, but he had never really stopped to think about it. Seeing Luke there it was impossible not to think. His cousin just stopped walking as soon as he saw it, and as Bo looked at him he saw tears shimmering in his eyes. _

_That was when it hit Bo what that wall represented to Luke, he had been there, he had seen all of those names. Even if he hadn't learnt all of them, countless names on that wall was people he had met briefly, some of them he had seen dying. To Luke it was four years of his life, four years of terror and misery, but also the very reason why he had gone there in the first place. _

_Bo felt the tears come to his own eyes, he had never been there, he had only heard Luke mention a few names and most of those were the ones who had made it through. Yet he suddenly understood more. Seeing all those names he came to realize what a huge thing it was. _

_He wasn't sure why he did it, but he put a hand on his cousin's shoulder, Luke gave him a brief glance, not even bothering to brush the tears from his eyes, but putting his own hand over Bo's he slowly made his way up to the wall. _

_As Luke went over and started reading the names a few tears slipped down his cheeks and Bo's hand slid down his back in a supportive gesture. He looked as Luke slowly read the names, the rest of the family following close by. It amazed Bo how many chose to remember their fallen family and friends by the small things that adorned the wall. There was pictures of wives and children, little tiny tots with baseball bats, there was medals left there, a couple of teddy bears. All things that had meant something to the men. _

_Bo had learnt a few of life's hard lesson himself, he knew how easy it was to lose family, but this was just so pointless. All of those names represented lost family and friends, and watching Luke, seeing young girls and old women break away from the wall and run with tears streaming, little children tracing the words in the stone, none of them had died for any reason. It was all so pointless, but the men were still dead. _

"_You!" an angry voice called out from somewhere to the left and Bo looked up as Luke was still focusing on the wall. _

"_You, damn baby killer!" The voice repeated and Bo saw the man even as Luke looked up. He had been called by that before. _

"_Still so proud eh? Crew cut on a soldier boy, rather on a baby killer," the man spat and Luke touched his head with a hand. He had taken off the hat and Cooter now held it in his hand, and since his hair had not yet grown out Bo supposed it might be mistaken for a crew cut. Jesse was bristling with anger, though Bo was more scared what it might do to Luke. Cooter had drawn himself up, and was ready to act. _

_Glancing at his cousin Bo noticed the coldness of his eyes and decided to stop for a moment and wait to see what would happen. He could tell how angry Luke was, but he could also tell that Luke didn't want any help here. _

"_Would you be referring to me?" Luke asked, his voice was quiet and Bo smiled inwards in spite of it all, the more angry, the more quiet Luke got the more you needed to watch out. Even Ledbetter knew to back down when Luke used that tone, because he knew that when he did, it was a barely controlled fury that would have him literally pluck up his teeth from the floor if he didn't give. Even Rosco or Boss dared to push him the slightest and those who had been foolish enough to do that, had always regretted it. _

"_I sure as hell am, what are you? Army?" The man spat again, he wasn't all that big, and didn't look that muscular, Bo suspected he was drunk or something._

"_Marine," Luke informed him, his voice dropping and his eyes getting even colder. _

"_Marine huh, big strong tough Marine. Always faithful," the man laughed. "Big liars, do ya know ya cost me my cousin? He went there, drafted, and he never returned because he got shot, and it's all your fault, because people like you want to fight, and you don't care who you shoot! You are all damn cowards and baby killers, scum, the world would be better if it wasn't for people like you!" _

_Looking around Daisy was surprised not many seemed to notice, but with children and even adults crying here and there, no one just paid all that much attention. _

_Suddenly the man stepped forward. "Did you ever think about that, did you ever care? You never cared about anyone but yourself. Sat damn nice and comfortable and just shot babies, and my cousin was out there doing the real fighting and got shot, all because of you!"_

_Bo was shocked, how could anyone say things like that? How could anyone accuse someone else of something like that. After all Luke had suffered, why did he have to go through this to?_

_Luke hadn't really said anything yet, but now he put his arm around Bo's shoulder. "I was there, I went there so that my cousin would not have to." _

"_Think that makes you a hero huh?!" The man snarled. "It don't your still nothing but a baby killer!" _

_  
Bo barely caught it, he was stunned by the words and didn't really notice when Luke pulled his hand away from his shoulder and punched the man, but suddenly he was on the ground, looking completely dazzled. _

"_I'm sorry about yer cousin," Luke said in that quiet voice. "I am sorry fer his sake that ya can't even appreciate the sacrifice he made, but blame it on those who was there for him then. I don't regret it, yer right, I am proud, I am proud of the fact I stood up for my country when so many like you backed down. I don't regret what I had to go through, I don't regret living in that hell of a jungle because I am still proud of our flag. The only thing that is a shame, is that I did it for yer right to act like yer doing now. Every one of them names there is a boy who fought an' died for something ya will never get to know, an' ya'd rather blame them, well, I ain't half as disgusted over the things I was made to do, as I am over ya. Ya got the right to say what ya wanna say, ya got the right to call me what ya wanna call me, ya got that right because our grand daddies fought for it, because our fathers fought for it, an' because those boys fought for it," he brushed his hand over the wall as he added the last. _

"_Ya come here, to where we go to honor the ones we knew an' the ones we loved, an' ya do it to tell us how much ya hate us, don't matter, if I had to make that choice again I'd make the same choice, an' while I was there dying or surviving as the lord saw fit, ya'd be here talking about how wrong it was an' doing nothing. An' I tell ya something buddy, before ya has been there an' gone through what yer cousin did for yer sake, an' fer the sake of all them kids ya see here, ya don't have no right to talk this way about what he did." _

_Bo had never really heard Luke be that lengthy, and he wasn't sure where it had all come from. He was vaguely aware of how a man picked himself up from the floor and slunk off away from the place. He looked at Luke who had simply turned back to the wall as if nothing had happened and he knew that right now it was something Luke just couldn't deal with, but later, when it really hit him, then Bo would make sure he was there for him. _

_In the meant time the rest of them stepped closer, Daisy wrapped her arms around him, Jesse put a hand to his cheek and Cooter put his hand on his shoulder as Luke lowered his eyes to the ground. He found it harder and harder to deal with by the second. _

_Meeting his eyes Bo saw soft blue covered with a sheen of tears and he gave his cousin a small smile. He was so very proud of him, not so much because of what he had done as he was of why he had done it. _

_Then as Bo wondered if it had been too much for him and they should take him back, then Luke seemed to mentally shake himself by the shoulders and he straightened up as he continued his slow trek along the wall, and it took all Bo knew to know what he had just been put through. _

_This time when he stopped he ran his finger over a name and Bo knew he had found someone who meant just a little bit more to him. Someone he had known. Taking a step back he stood there breathing slowly. _

_Luke's eyes had been so cold before that it had near scared Bo, but now as he looked on another child his eyes looked warmer. Pulling away from Bo Luke knelt down in front of the little boy, maybe seven years old._

"_Hey Timmy," Luke said softly and Bo couldn't understand how he could know his name. _

"_Who are you?" The frightened little boy asked him in a whisper. _

"_I knew yer daddy, he would show me pictures of his little Timmy, said ya was his special little boy," Luke told him softly, brushing a finger over a birthmark on his cheek. It was pretty big and Bo felt sorry for him, it was the kind of thing kids got teased for and it was a shame. _

"_Daddy's gone," the boy whimpered with tears falling. "He was my daddy," he pointed on the same name Luke had been looking at and suddenly Bo understood. _

"_I know Timmy, I knew yer daddy to." Bo and Luke had always claimed they knew nothing about kids, but now Luke displayed that he knew a lot about compassion, putting his arm around the little freckle faced boy. _

"_Why did he have to go?" the boy asked, "I wanted him to come back, and mommy did to, she was so sad when he left. She showed me he was there," he pointed to the wall again. "But now she don't wanna go here no more, it only makes her cry, and she don't want me to go either, but I wanna be with daddy. She was busy, so I snuck out because I wanna go here." _

"_Timmy, yer daddy didn't wanna leave ya, he was really sorry he had to." Luke sat down on the ground and put the little boy in his lap. _

"_But he still left me," the boy cried, clinging close to a stranger. He had been told countless times not to trust strangers, but children can be so very trusting, and Bo figured he just knew he had found someone who understood his pain. _

"_He left me to Timmy, but he didn't want to. Sometimes a man has to do things he don't want to do. My mommy and daddy left me when I was just a little boy like ya are, an' it wasn't because they didn't love me, it was because they had to," Luke tried to explain, remembering the pain he had felt then. _

"_Does daddy still love me?" the little boy asked with tears streaming. _

"_Yer daddy loves ya very much," Luke assured him. "He liked to tell me about his special little boy, he told me ya wrote him letters all by yerself an' no one had to help ya. He was so proud of ya, an' he would put the drawings ya sent him in the barrack so everyone could see them. Said ya was a little artist."_

"_It's not fun to draw anymore, I wanted to draw for daddy," the boy said hiding another stream of tears against Luke's chest. _

"_Ya can still do that Timmy, because yer daddy will still be so very proud of ya, even if he ain't here to tell ya that, he will always be so very proud of ya, an' he will always love ya so very much."_

"_How much?" the boy sniffed. _

"_So much," Luke smiled as he held out his arms wide, something someone he knew a long time ago had told him he would always do when his little boy asked him how much he loved him, and even with tears still streaming a little boy smiled. If even a stranger knew how much his daddy loved him, then that had to mean it was true. _

"_I love him to," he declared. _

"_I know Timmy, an' yer daddy knows to," Luke smiled. _

_The little boy jumped to his feet and ran his finger along the wall again while Luke climbed to his feet, at least he seemed to be doing better, he really was a sweet little boy._

There was things Bo hadn't understood before then, things he didn't fully understand until he saw the drawing. Timmy's older brother came looking for him, and Timmy explained who Luke was, begging to be allowed to write him letters, so Luke wrote down his address on a little piece of paper for him, and after they had been home a while the first letter from Timmy came, not as much a letter as a drawing. It was pinned over Luke's bed, and there was two soldiers and a little boy on it, and a wall. Bo though he understood it all better as he sat down on Luke's bed and looked at the drawing. There was those who would always chose to blame the soldiers for things they believed wrong, blame the ones who had no choice, but there were those who saw through that, saw the sacrifice and the suffering, and there was those little golden hearts that reached into the darker suffering ones with tiny little sunbeams of hope.

Timmy had been a special little boy, with a real golden heart.

Now, back in the hayloft Bo was tryin to wrap his mind about it all. No one could tell from looking at him anymore that Luke had been sick. He had been at the dance the week before, enjoying his date and enjoying the late night where they seemed to get lost on the roads somewhere between the Boar's Nest and her farm. Jesse just shock his head grinning deciding that things were back to normal and punished him by cleaning out the chicken coop.

Then he took Bo by surprise, when his uncle packed up the groceries from the store he had thought the socks were to replace his own ones with holes in them, but they weren't, Jesse declared they were for Luke, so maybe he would stop stealing Bo's whenever he got holes in his owns.

So why was he brooding so much? Bo asked himself, there really was no need. Things never was all that normal in Hazzard, but at the moment they were as close as they could be, Luke was back to being the cousin he had always been, and what more, Bo now had a mission. His mood brightened instantly as he started planning, he needed a good plan, he had years and years of sock thievery to revenge……

**The End. **

**Authors Note:** I am aware that my time line is slightly off for the wall, but this was for the good of the story, I needed the wall to be there. Also, the name of the chemical is not real, it's made up from three different components, all gases. One was in the second world war, the two other I guarantee that Luke has been exposed to, and if handled wrong, they are very, very dangerous, and it seemed fitting as I've seen him use them not quite correctly……

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry………._


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